Vicini/distanti. L'immagine mediale dell'Altro

Mass media offer a construction of otherness, encouraging with messages and images the outlining of figures that can be (or not) close to audience's experience, also an emotional one. This is mostly true in times when migration phenomena appear to be one of the most complex and debated social issues. More specifically, literature about distant suffering suggests that mass media are nowadays primary vehicles in representing the suffering other, thus eliciting in the audience attitudes that span from denial to compassion. In this context, the ethical dimension is especially relevant: the main question is about how stylistic strategies can bring the audience to occupy a specific position towards the other. Through the analysis of recent Italian newspapers' examples, the book explores the relationship between media discourses of suffering and their effect on audiences, between the recognition of suffering and effective action.